Readers’ letters

A reader has some questions for Prime Minister Theresa May. See letter

Published:17:14Wednesday 12 October 2016

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Questions for the PM

The Tory conference has ended with Theresa May stating that she wants a country that works for everyone, thus she has to bury George Osborne’s austerity policies rather than praise him! But within hours of her speech, we witness the death of democracy with the announcement that the decision by two councils not to allow permits to Cuadrilla to frack the Fylde has been overturned! It prompts the analysis of what other earth-shattering Tory Government events have affected divisions in our communities?

Questions I would like to ask her include: Why are over half a million children still in poverty and being taught in over over-sized classes? Why have tuition fees doubled? Why has her Government cut billions from Local Authority budgets forcing local services such as libraries and Sure Start projects to close? Why is she content with the commercialisation of our NHS, when private operations are costing the NHS billions? The NHS is starved of government funding. A&E departments are in crisis over lack of doctors, with one in four of us waiting a week or more to see a GP. Why have bursaries for health workers been scrapped, when we have a shortage of trained nurses? Will she increase funding to the NHS and secure its future?

Is she content that over 19,000 police officers have been axed at a time of rising crimes in rape and child exploitation, with cuts overall to police budgets and other areas of the criminal justice system? The threats of terrorism are great, as she acknowledged as Home Secretary, but how will she protect our communities without a fully manned police force and what will she do about it? There are other questions on the rising national debt, the number of young people out of work, the folly of allowing non doms and business folk to avoid paying taxes, the effects of Brexit, the list is in fact endless!

Marjorie Nye

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politics

Tories for the few not many

Much has been written recently about the situation in the Labour Party.

I’m quite touched by people’s concern for the party I support. So it seems only right I look with the same concern at the Conservative party.

The Labour Party has the largest membership of any political party in Europe.

The Conservative party membership has dwindled to a little over 100,000.

Leading Tory Ken Clark has commented on the split in Conservative ranks over the referendum vote. This is not surprising when the current PM, who was in the Remain group, did nothing to help that cause. It could be said she kept a foot in both camps, and the reason is obvious. Cameron’s early demise gave her an opportunity that would never have come her way.

The continuing austerity policy has hit working people.

The pay freeze and rising housing costs have, according to the Resolution Foundation think-tank, hit SIX million families hard. They are struggling with low wages and welfare cuts.

This happened while they cut the tax of top earners.

The situation in the NHS is worsening. Trusts desperate for funding are forced to curtail some services. Drastic action is needed to avoid a crisis throughout the NHS.

Meanwhile the Government is obsessed with bringing back grammar schools which single out children from an early age.

History tells us much.

The Emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burned, because he was an ineffectual leader in time of crisis. How big a crisis do we need in the NHS before our Government begins to care for all instead of the few?